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Friday, 20 September 2013

I had a response from Gavin Mannion where he stated, “I hope
you know that I don't care what you think the law is, sources are
private so deal with it.” in response to my statement “ "I
hope that he knows that since his blog is not a registered newspaper
that he cannot provide any protection to his sources."

Wow!

I can now see why Webster asked him to get legal advice.

It obviously wasn't a threat, it was advice.....

Sources for a blog are never private. I cannot believe that one
man thinks that he is now above the law.

In fact, Mannion seems to make all sorts of accusations in his
blog. If they were true, why does he not list the sources and why
does he not take action.

It is my opinion that Mannion has not really sorted out in his own
mind where he stands on developing eSports as he also stated, “You
dear sir are the problem not the solution. I hope you take over the
MSSA in December as you'd provide us with thousands of articles about
how badly things are being run and how corrupt the system has
become.”

His statement shows that even though he does not much like me, and
he mentions me as the problem, yet he WANTS me to take over as it
will give him articles.

So, all he wants is to write articles, not to fix anything, just
write articles – presumably as long as it sells....

Is this not corrupt behaviour? Is it not corrupt to make a
living off what you see as wrong? I think that it may well be.

Mannion too states that the system is corrupt.

Hmm, that is a first, democracy is a corrupt. Lol

Oh, I get it, he would prefer to be seen as the 'community's voice' where he sees and knows all... Surely if he was concerned, he would be advocating people to stand
for the positions offered to right the wrongs, not hoping to see it fail.

In my opinion Mannion does not truly have any gamer's interests at heart.

The
reason I say this is because no matter how hard I have searched the
internet, I have not found any scathing or vindictive response by the
MSSA.

I too looked at what Mr Mannion calls 'legal action'.

Well I hate to disappoint, but it does not even state the
intention to start any litigation.

I
see that Mr Mannon also claims to have a whole lot of information. I
hope that he knows that since his blog is not a registered newspaper
that he cannot provide any protection to his sources.

But,
this is why I have advocated for years that Colin Webster should no
longer be President of the MSSA.

For years he has pursued a
concilliatory approach to people who have opposed the very existence
of the MSSA for their own ulterior motives.

Webster has openly
stated that he would not use the law to enforce the MSSA's rights as
being the sole authority in charge of eSports in South Africa. He has
openly stated that he would continue to work to get all gamers to see
the 'strength' and 'purpose' of the MSSA and get them to cross the
'divide'.

Well,
pigs might fly...

For
all of Webster's efforts, those who were entrenched in their beliefs
still are.

Nothing is going to change those who can not, will
not, and dare not, change.

That is why I, for one is ecstatic
that this is the last year of Webster's presidency.

It
allows the way for the committee to become more representative. This
in turn will unlock more finances from government. A truly
representative association will also mean that the MSSA will become
more aggressive in terms of pushing a number of development
programmes as well as allow the MSSA to build up a war-chest to deal
with those who do not see the political realities.

There
also need to be several changes to the committee. The current rules
that stop any one member from dominating the committee has to go.

Webster has continually fought to make sure that the
committee did not form cliques, but it is only through cliques that
you can have effective management.

"On Thursday, 12 September 2013 the
MSSA officially handed Protea Colours over to Nathan 'StatiC'
Anderson at the Old Edwardian Society in Lower Houghton.

The sponsorship received from MWEB was fully explained to all
present. It was noted that if it were not for the sponsorship
from MWEB, that Nathan would not have been able to attend
DreamHack Bucharest.

It was then explained that with the accreditation of eSports
as a full sport in South Africa, the Protea Colours Board is
able to award Protea Colours to gamers.

This is the same Protea Colours that are awarded by the
Board to South Africa's other sporting stars for sports such
as swimming, cricket, rugby etcetera.

After the award ceremony, Nathan was whisked off to the
airport where he boarded his flight to Romania.

However Nathan 'StatiC' Anderson, who plays for Veneration
eSports on a club level) found the championship to test his
mettle. Among the finest players in the world, Nathan held
his ground in some pretty intense games. 'Ret' (from the
Netherlands) and 'Niroxs' (from Switzerland) proved to be
too strong for Nathan and defeated him. However, Nathan
fought back courageously to beat the Romanian player
'Shinersen'.

Unfortunately the win was not enough, and Nathan was
eliminated from the group stages.

There is no doubt that Nathan learnt some very valuable
lessons at DreamHack Bucharest which was played on the 14th
and 15th of September 2013. The lessons learnt by Nathan at
this event will no doubt put him in good stead for his
forays into future competitions."

Sunday, 15 September 2013

A number of local organisations give prize money to local
competitions.

Most notably of these is the DGL.

However,
does this really help gaming?

Let's unpack the issue shall
we.

First, the giving of prize money differs from the award of
a medal or such as it ceases to be an award, but instead becomes a
reward.

While everybody agrees that people should be rewarded
for their efforts, the reward should be:

In line with international standards,

In line with effort given,

if the game is being played at international championships,
and

In line with the professionalism of the recipients.

If the reward is in excess of the categories mentioned above,
then the reward ceases to be a reward, and instead becomes merely an
'entitlement'.

And it certainly seems as though that the way
in which prize money is awarded in South African eSports at the
moment seems to be that. A very closed affair with the money going to
those that 'deserve' it.

And then there is the matter of development.

How does prize money help development of the new gamers, of the
elite gamers, and in getting new gamers into the competitive
scene?

Getting in new gamers:
There is no doubt that large sums of money offered as prizes carry
sensationalist headlines. But after the initial hype, it is all an
empty promise in my opinion. The prize money may well attract the
attention of the reader and the non committed gamer, but it does
nothing to enable anybody to actually start gaming. In other words it
is purs marketing.... all words and no substance. It does not take
the average person more than a few nanoseconds to realise that the
prize money is reserved for the few. Thus, the prize money offering
is incapable of helping new clans to start, to maintain the
sustainability of clans, or indeed, provide for the very basics that
a growing sport needs.

Development of new gamers:
eSports is like a garden, in order to see real growth, the garden has
to be tended, mulch and compost has to be dug in, and the weeds
pulled. In other words, development of new gamers is year-long and
requires continual attention. Gamers require coaching, training and
events in order to improve. But before that, gamers need venues,
equipment and support. Prize mney given top the few instead of having
at least three times the amount spent on development is thus
meaningless. The prize money given never gets distributed down the
pyramid to deliver any real sustainability and growth to support the
growth of eSports as a true sport.

Development of elite gamers:
Of course it is the elite gamers who are the ones in line for the
prize money, but does it help them?

The
answer is NO!

Often
the prize money offered by an organiser is split up among a number of
titles and a number of positions, so, by the time the monies are
actually given, the amounts are not enough to help elite gamers
achieve their objectives of competing in international competition.
In fact, at times, there is sometimes only enough for the team or
gamers to cover their own costs to pay for their costs to get to and
from the event.

The
amounts given, are also nearly nowhere the amounts required for any
gamer to become a true professional. It is through being a true
professional that gaming in South Africa will truly improve and
become on par with gaming overseas.

In conclusion:
Instead
of companies pouring monies into prize money, more good will be done
if the companies take one step back and look at the needs of the
gamers.

By
not paying prize money, companies could identify to gamers and put
them on a payroll and turn them into top professionals.

Saturday, 14 September 2013

Obviously the
sponsorship that the MSSA receives from MWEB is an important factor
to their level of activity.

It is interesting that the MWEB
Protea Dota 2 team whitewashed the Mexican team on the 7th
of September 2013. South Africa’s strength as opposed to the
Mexicans was totally phenomenal.

Of course there are the critics. They are not happy when South
Africa loses, and they are not happy when South Africa wins. They are
just never happy!

I
spoke to Colin Webster (President of the MSSA) and he said to me.
“The MSSA is very proud of the MWEB Dota 2 team. The team played
well and had a good recovery after having been defeated by
Romania.”

I too asked Webster if there was any truth to the
Mexican team being weaker than what it should be. Webster replied by
saying, “The Mexican team was selected by eSports Mexico. I cannot
believe that any other federation would willingly field a weaker team
than what they could unless they did it for other reasons that are
only known to themselves.”

So that is it.... according to
Webster the MWEB Protea Dota 2 Team won fair and square.

Of course there are the
critics. They are not happy when South Africa loses, and they are not
happy when South Africa wins. They are just never happy!
However, I have a bone to pick with the MSSA. I have not seen the
results for the Online League of Legends Championships.

But it
was a busy weekend. The same weekend saw the MSSA holding its 1st
Nkangala Regional Championships in Mpumalanga for COD 4. The winners
were, not surprisingly, D5g of the All Stars Club.

Of course the highlight of the month for me was the fact that
Veneration eSports gamer, Nathan 'StatiC' Anderson is selected to be the
newest member of the MWEB Protea Team.

What a star!

And he is living the dream! Imagine to be sent across to play at
DreamHack Bucharest. I would give my left b*** for that.